Dortmund Are Spending Big, Just Not on Players

It isn’t exactly outrageous to suggest that football fans can often be ignorant of what it takes to run a successful football club. The on-pitch stuff will always be the centre of attention for most people, which is entirely understandable. The behind-the-scenes things that take place are either of no real interest to the majority of fans or else go almost completely underreported to the point that most people don’t even know they’re happening.

Spending money on players will always be seen as a good thing, whilst spending money on the general running of the club is not something fans will ever really understand or approve of.

Dortmund’s New Kitchen

That sense of supporters not really being willing to understand what goes into the running of a top-level football club might be best explained by the decision of Der BVB to spend £11 million on something that most fans will never get the benefit of. Having long boasted an approach to finances that might best be described as ‘prudish’, Dortmund have continued that sense of not wanting to spend too much this summer. Sport Bild reported that the club has had to go into the market with €11 million in recent weeks, but the money is not being spent on a new player.

About 12 months ago, an inspection of Signal Iduna Park ruled that the kitchen facilities were outdated. Not only that, they also stated that it was unfit for use, meaning that the club could no longer send meals and snacks out of it. A complete replacement of the kitchen at the football ground was needed, coming in at a fee that some people might consider to be eye-watering in nature. Social media was quickly rife with a raft of jokes about the new kitchen, with many wondering whether it was able to play in central defence, given the area appears to be a weakness of the Black and Yellows.

Fan Frustration

Whilst the social media posts about the issue were obviously comedic in nature, they also demonstrated a sense of frustration from supporters about the manner in which the club is being run. There was a time about midway through the 2024-2025 campaign when it looked as though Der BVB were going to end up missing out on Champions League football, with manager Nuri Şahin eventually given the boot and being replaced by Niko Kovač. Kovač worked wonders with his team, getting them to the point that they ended up snatching the last spot for Europe’s premier competition.

🚨🟡⚫️HERE WE GO! Official, confirmed. The new Striker names German-Kitchen joins Borussia Dortmund on 11 Mio. € deal!!

Last Season Performance:
16 Meals, 12 Snacks 🍔
@FabrizioRomano confirmed! #Dortmund #BVB #Bundesliga pic.twitter.com/AwUy1CyiqR

— ResulBalboa (@rezzzy45) August 8, 2025

There is a feeling among many fans that he’s having to do all of this with one hand tied behind his back, however. Niklas Süle was made one of Dortmund’s highest-paid players when he was signed from Bayern Munich in 2022, seeing him earn around €12 million a year but struggling to meet the expectations that have been put on him. Not that the Chief Executive Officer, Hans-Joachim Watzke, believes there is anything to worry about. Instead, he is remaining calm and putting his faith in the sporting management, aware of the fact that last summer’s transfer moves left people feeling excited before things fell apart.

It Isn’t the Only Reason for Dortmund’s Struggles

Whilst it is obviously quite amusing to picture a world in which Borussia Dortmund’s transfer plans were derailed by the installation of a kitchen, the truth of the matter is that the kitchen isn’t the only reason why the German side aren’t having the summer than many people would’ve hoped for. The reality of the matter is that Dortmund’s finances aren’t looking too shabby, thanks to the fact that the club made €56 million from the sale of Jamie Gittens to Chelsea, as well as having a decent run in this summer’s Club World Cup. Add in the Champions League appearance too years ago and this isn’t a poor football club.

Part of the problem, though, is that too many players have been allowed to enter the final year of their contracts and are either too old or else not performing well enough to attract suitors. All of Niklas Süle, Emre Can, Pascal Groß, Salih Özcan and Julian Brandt are in that exact position, for example. On top of that, the long-term future of the manager can’t be guaranteed, so new signings aren’t in a rush to sign with the club when they aren’t sure how they will be used in the long term. It is obviously fun to blame the €11 million kitchen, with supporters finding many players who could be signed for that amount, but there’s much more to it all than that.